Dad and kids going to baseball practice are pulled over with guns pointed, lawsuit says
.png "A man is suing a Wisconsin city after he says police officers held him and three children at gunpoint during a traffic stop.")
A man is suing a Wisconsin city after he says police officers held him and three children at gunpoint during a traffic stop.
Luke Weiland was taking his two sons and their friend — aged 12 to 14 — to baseball practice on Jan. 29, 2023, in Wisconsin Rapids when he noticed police lights in his rear-view mirror.
He pulled along the shoulder of the highway to allow the police cruiser to go around him. That’s when he realized he was the one being pulled over, according to a lawsuit.
Weiland parked his pick-up truck on the shoulder of a turning lane. He rolled his window down to speak with the cop, but the officer never approached his vehicle, the lawsuit said.
“(The officer) stepped out of his vehicle and crouched between the open door of his vehicle and the body of the vehicle and began screaming at Weiland. (The officer) screamed at Weiland to turn the vehicle off and to put the keys outside on the roof,” the lawsuit said.
Weiland did as the officer said. Then, the officer screamed for everyone in the truck to put their hands on the ceiling outside the truck, the lawsuit said. However, Weiland and the children didn’t understand what the officer meant.
The lawsuit said that the officer was “acting erratically, yelling, and shouting demands that made no sense and his behavior was concerning to everyone in the Weiland truck to the point that they thought something might be wrong with the officer to be behaving in this manner.”
Weiland and the children all raised their hands inside the truck, then the officer drew his gun, crouched behind the door of the police cruiser and pointed his gun at the truck, the lawsuit said.
“Everyone in the car became extremely concerned and frightened for their lives at this point,” the lawsuit said.
Another officer showed up to the traffic stop and also drew his gun, according to the lawsuit. The officer ordered Weiland out of the truck, handcuffed him and placed him in the police cruiser.
A sergeant arrived at the scene, and after seeing the two officers with their guns drawn, he drew his gun and pointed it at the truck, according to the lawsuit.
McClatchy News reached out to the city of Wisconsin Rapids for comment Feb. 5 but did not immediately hear back.
During this time, a dispatcher called Weiland’s wife, who was the registered owner of the truck. His wife explained to the dispatcher that her husband was driving the truck taking kids to baseball practice, the lawsuit said. She also explained that her husband is an attorney and is known to many city officials and officers.
The lawsuit said Weiland told officers that the other passengers were children. Still, when officers approached the truck, they were pointing their guns toward the kids, the lawsuit said.
Weiland repeatedly asked the officers what was going on and why they were being pulled over in this manner. The officer told him it was being treated as a high risk stop because Weiland traveled a long distance before pulling over, the lawsuit said.
Weiland said it was possible he drove one to three minutes before noticing the police lights because he wasn’t looking in his mirrors, but that as soon as he noticed them he pulled over, according to the court documents.
“The children were asked why they didn’t stop and they replied that they never heard anything and had no idea anyone was behind them,” the lawsuit said.
Weiland was ultimately given a citation for speeding and fleeing a scene, but another officer later showed up at his home and gave him a citation for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle and told him to “rip up” the other citation, the lawsuit said. All citations were later dismissed.
The Weiland family’s lawsuit accuses the city of Wisconsin Rapids and two officers of unlawful seizure in violation of their civil rights. The lawsuit is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for an amount to be determined.
